Be There: The CRCT Breakdown

COLUMBUS, GA (WTVM) - Wednesday kicks off the start of the Criterion Referenced Competency Tests, or CRCT, in Muscogee County.

It's the test that students and teachers prepare for every year, but what do the CRCT results really mean for school districts?

Valerie Fuller with the Muscogee County School District said, "It's important to see what the achievement level is, how they're doing in reading, how they're doing in math, how they're applying what they learned in class to what they apply in reference to answering questions on the test."

The CRCT is usually administered to all elementary and middle school students, but this year a few grades are getting a break.

"This year, due to budget cuts, the state decided to reduce the number of students that were tested to grades three through eight," Fuller explained.

And she says it's a state mandate that could show up in the coming years if the education budget doesn't improve, "We got that information from the state department when we were discussing budget cuts last year and that information was sent down to us. Whether or not that will be the deal for next year... I'm thinking we'll have to hear from the state department. If we receive that information we will adhere to the rules and regulations in reference to that for the following year."

The test also shows strengths and weaknesses in subjects for each school and when the results come back, administrators will know where they need to focus their efforts for the following year.

Fuller told News Leader Nine, "We continue to see a weakness in math so over the past few years we focus on those critical areas, math being one of those, where we need improvement. So, professional development has been given to teachers throughout the year to help apply those standards specifically in the classroom with different strategies."

So after these next two weeks of testing, schools can find out if all their hard work paid off.